Distant Skies
by Yati
Summary: You only have to save the world once, right?
1. Prologue

**It was, of course, just a dream.**  
  
  
  
It was an odd dream, a dream of darkness, and of light. It was hard to distinguish one from the other, since the once stark line separating them was now blurry and indistinct. Light was mixing with the dark, and a myriad of shades were appearing at each passing second and disappearing just as abruptly, like colourful afterimages caught by the eye after an explosion. It was beautiful, much more beautiful than just the sheer darkness or pure light alone, though it was striking a strange sense of terror into the soul. 

For now that the line is gone, who will be the one to redefine it?

  
  


_"How can you be sure that we're doing the right thing?"  
"How can you be sure that we're not?"_

  
  


And why, indeed, is that even necessary?  
  
  
  
  
  
At the same time, it was a dream about falling, forever. Forever in an empty abyss, devoid of any emotion, any thought. But there is no such thing as forever, because everything ends at a point. Death makes its claim, and the stars explode . . .  
. . . and a newborn inhales his first breath, and distant galaxies burst forth. 

So, maybe, in this dream, this _existence_, eternity is something real, after all. 

  
  


_"It's all about balance, dear brother. You destroyed an evil, now another has to take its place.  
And it is the nature of ascension that the one to rise now must be more powerful than the one who has fallen before . . . ." _

  
  


So why try breaking an endless cycle that will inevitably go on?  
  
  
  
  
  
It was about the present, but it was also a dream of the past, and of the future. A dream where it was possible to see flashes of what was yet to come, foggy pieces ahead of time that could not clearly be deciphered or read. A dream with images that wavered and changed with each step taken, that were distorted and twisted with every blink of the eye. 

They were nothing more than snapshots of the past, clear and defined, showing the paths chosen before. Yet, at the same time, there is a dizzying glimpse of lives never lived. Lives that _might_ have been lived, lies that might have been told, secrets that had might have been shared, had different choices been made at the various crossroads of a well-trodden trail. 

  
  


_"You're supposed to deny him victory in the end."  
"Fate again?"  
"No. Free will. You've already chosen to do that." _

  
  


The paths of the future are infinite, and there are many roads that could be followed, but is the one to be taken a matter of choice . . . or destiny?  
  
  
  
  
  
In this dream, it was a game, somehow, and games are about winning and losing. A deadly game, when life and death, victory and defeat, honour and disgrace all go hand in hand. Only one way or the other – there was no middle road. All play to win, of course, and it was all about planning the next move: to capture, to conquer, to evade, or to simply surrender. It was about strategy, about taking risks, of making decissions, and of bending and breaking the rules. 

It was also about the sacrifices that are willing to be made. 

  
  


_"Thinking of your next move, are you?"  
"No. You're losing."  
"Ah. Then it's other things you're thinking about – like whether you should betray me today or tomorrow, I suppose?" _

  
  


But just how many are willing to make the greatest sacrifice of all?  
  
  
  
  
  
It was about friendship, and courage, and of course, loyalty. It was about knowing where you stand, when to honour and to serve. And when to _stop_ honouring and serving. Because it was about life, and learning to let go. 

Perhaps . . . it was even about love. 

  


Most importantly, though, it is about what you _believe_.  
  
  


_"Do you believe in dreams?"  
"I believe in_ you_."_

  
  


***

  
  


**Distant Skies  
a Final Fantasy VIII fan fiction  
by Yati**

  
  
  


[ Disclaimer: All things FFVIII-related are not mine. You already know this drill. No copyright infringement intended. ]

  
  



	2. Another Field Exam

**PART ONE**  
_______________________________________________  
  
_"May you live in interesting times."_  
– Ancient Chinese curse   
  
  
  
  


**I  
  
Another Field Exam**  
_____________________________  
  
_Centra Crater,  
Centra_

  
  
  
  
  
Sometimes it was hard to believe she had ever wanted to be an instructor in the first place. 

Quistis Trepe impatiently pushed away an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. The sea breeze from the shores seemed to be rising, and the Yorn Mountains gave an illusion of shade, yet it was still surprisingly hot even in the shadows of the make-shift tent that doubled as the command centre. She shielded her eyes and squinted against the sun, trying to see further into the uneven terrain of the Centra Crater. 

A few feet to her left she could hear Nida giving out instructions in his best no-nonsense voice, but she could see the cadets in the group were trying their best to grasp what he was saying in the blistering heat. It didn't help that Nida was not exactly the most assertive officer they had. She resisted the urge to push away her hair again, and tried to pay more attention to him. The heat made her feel sluggish, but she was a SeeD, and SeeDs were supposed to be alert at all times. But it would've been so nice to just stay in her air-conditioned office in Balamb Garden trying to finish up marking her papers instead of accompanying students for an exam and – 

"Quistis?" 

She came back to reality with a snap. So much about being alert at all times. Nida was looking at her, a questioning look in his eyes. He turned back to face the squad when he was satisfied he had her attention and said, "As I was saying, Instructor Trepe is the instructor in charge of this squad, and the squad leader is Irvine Kinneas." Nida shuffled the papers in his hand, glancing briefly at the contents. "So no problem there," he muttered under his breath – sounding almost put out, of all things – but Quistis heard him anyway. Nida was always acting as if no one was listening to him. She wondered what gave him _that_ idea. 

Irvine grinned and shifted his rifle to his left hand, and Quistis couldn't help but think he looked very different in a cadet's uniform without his trademark hat. Irvine, being Irvine, had managed _not_ to pass the written exam the first time he took it, much to Squall's chagrin, and Selphie had chased Irvine all around the Garden, scolding him at the top of her voice. Irvine had laughed it off, saying that he would pass it the next time, and he just managed to scrape through the top ten percent the second time around. 

Passing the exam wasn't at all necessary for Irvine, at least in Quistis's opinion, considering all that he had gone through. All _they_ had gone through. But rules were rules and procedures were procedures, as Squall had reiterated in his usual monotone, even as he had given an apology of sorts to Irvine. Irvine had took it in stride – it wasn't as if he had much to lose ... as far as Quistis could tell, Irvine's allowance was on par with the salary most of them received. Courtesy of being in the team that defeated Ultimecia, of course. That was one rule, apparently, Squall had been able to work around. 

"This is the current situation and the mission," Nida was saying. "SeeD was contacted at 1500 hours yesterday by the client, Alpha Pharmaceuticals, a company based in Esthar. They had reported that a group of their researchers went missing since 1500 hours the day before, and there had been no radio contact since then. Our mission is to find and rescue the missing researchers." 

"Provided that they are still alive," muttered one of the candidates, a flaxen-haired young man named Jared Reese. Quistis saw of him enough in classes (and she had also went through his files) to know he was rather reckless and had a quicksilver temper at best. Thankfully, though, he had no record of causing serious trouble before, and she was grateful for that small favour. 

"You don't have to worry about that, Reese," Nida said, not sharply, but there was definitely an edge to the usually quiet voice. "You are to complete your squad's objective to the letter, understood?" Jared almost scowled, but he controlled himself and nodded instead, and Irvine shot a wary look his way. Apparently Irvine sensed trouble as well. Nida was still holding his gaze steady on Jared. 

"Which is?" Irvine prompted, taking the attention off his squad-mate. Jared was trying very hard not to glare at Nida and he wasn't entirely successful. 

Quistis almost groaned. Why did she always end up with the troubled ones in her charge? Well ... at least Jared wasn't ... malicious, nor did he pick on his teammates, like Seifer had done. She gave the cadet a warning look and he subsided. The other member of the squad, Rissa Hathaway, was biting her lower lip uncertainly, casting nervous glances towards Irvine and Jared. 

Nida continued, apparently oblivious to the tension. "The objective of this squad is to secure the part of the Ruins located here," he pointed to an area on a map spread on the ground, "and to rid the place of monsters." He moved to another map, detailing the inside of the ruins. "The researchers are believed to be trapped somewhere within this perimeter." He tapped on another area enclosed within a red line. "The completion of your objective is essential in the success of the mission as a whole. 

"If you fail to achieve the objective, the SeeD members with you will get the job done. They will also be observing every move that you make, so don't do anything stupid. Marks will be deducted for every breach of conduct." Nida paused for a second, glancing again at his notes. "Oh, by the way, you should know this – SeeD Xu-Tian Chen is the joint field commander in charge of this mission along with SeeD Zell Dincht." Irvine raised an eyebrow and gave a low whistle, and made a move as if to push his hat back before realising he didn't have it on. Jared seemed unimpressed. Rissa looked around anxiously, as if expecting either Zell or Xu to pop out of nowhere at any minute. 

Quistis had to suppress a smile. Zell had been thrilled that Squall had seen him capable enough to be put in charge (even if it _was_ as joint commander), but a lot less thrilled when he realised that it was also a field exam – thus requiring quite a number of SeeDs and even more students, as well as some talent for organising and sorting out paperwork, something Zell absolutely detested. He had also looked quite horrified when Squall had solemnly informed him that it was the same field exam Irvine was going to take. 

Squall could have a wicked sense of humour, sometimes. 

"Another last thing. I know you've been told this countless times, but the order to withdraw takes the highest priority. Remember that." He looked at the candidates and smiled suddenly, and Quistis was struck on how rarely she had ever seen Nida smile. Then again, she thought with a twinge of guilt, that could probably be because she never paid much attention to him. "That's all. If you have any questions, talk to Instructor Trepe. Good luck." 

Out of nowhere, Quistis suddenly thought of Seifer. What was it he had said? _"I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a bad student who needs them, eh?"_

Nida saluted her, and Quistis saluted back, almost clumsily, distracted by her thoughts. She watched as he headed towards another squad, which was still being briefed by Xu. Well, it's up to the candidates, now. Quistis was sure that Irvine would pass, good luck wishes or no – she suspected that Squall, despite his aloof exterior, was willing to pull some strings to make sure of that. Quistis hoped that that was not going to be necessary – she knew Irvine could certainly do very well on his own if he had the mind to. 

She gave herself a mental shake. She was drifting off again. "Any questions?" she asked crisply, and all three of the candidates shook their heads. "Okay then. You shall move in when we get the signal from Mission Control. Be prepared and make sure you equip your GF." 

Irvine gave her a wink. "Yes, ma'am," he said, before rechecking his rifle. "It's gonna be like a field trip, ain't it, Quisty?" 

"Kinneas, behave yourself," she said absently, squinting again against the sunlight, into the open wasteland. This surely was something simple, something easy. After all, they had defeated Ultimecia, and nothing can be worse than that, right?

  
  
  
  
  
  
---------------------- 

**Author's Note**

Eh, if I had told you that the prologue was a fluke and the following chapters wouldn't be written in the same style, would you still be here? (Though if you're reading this, I guess you _are_ here.) 

Anyway. This will be LONG. Anyone who's willing to stay 'til the very end will be highly praised for their patience. It's something I've been doodling about in my notebook for far too long (a year, maybe?) that just wouldn't get written past the first part. So I was hoping that posting it here will give it the shove it needs to keep on rolling. The chapters will be short - sorry, but my last multi-chaptered (and still yet to be continued) attempt had about 3000+ words per chapter and it gave me hell when it came to editing, and I'm not too fond of going through that again. So we will be brief, this time. 

And I accept constructive criticism and chocolate chip cookies gladly. =) 


	3. Irvine

**II  
  
  
Irvine**  
_____________________________  
  
_Centra Crater,  
Centra_

  
  
  
  
  
If there was anything worse than the blistering heat, it had to be the fact that he didn't have his hat. 

He kept forgetting that he didn't have it on. The cadet's uniform was bad enough – the collar _itched_ – and he didn't really like the fact that he was the squad leader. Business like being squad leaders and commanders should be left to people like Squall Leonhart and Quistis Trepe (hell, perhaps even Seifer Almasy), but certainly not Irvine Kinneas. 

He scratched at his neck. The damn mission just had to be in the desert. Just how long were they supposed to be crouching here beside a boulder, burning to a crisp in the midday sun? It wasn't like he needed a tan. _I could just ask Zell to summon Ifrit and get the same results_, he thought wryly. 

"Irvine?" Startled, he turned to look at the girl who had addressed him. What was her name again ... Lisa? Something like that. Well, it wasn't his fault that he wasn't really a cadet from B-Garden. Though she was a pretty thing, with those hazel eyes. She was nervously fingering her weapon – it was a staff of some sort – while looking off into the distance. "Do you see anything?" 

He realised he was holding the binoculars. He handed them to her, feeling somewhat foolish as he shook his head. His other squad-mate was fiddling with his crossbow, intent on tightening the strings. The girl was the only one with a close-ranged weapon. Irvine had a feeling that that was not going to be a good thing. 

"Are we supposed to just sit here?" Jared asked, looking up at Irvine's scrutiny. Irvine tapped the receiver he had plugged into his ear and shook his head. 

"We're supposed to wait for orders from mission control. You heard what Quisty said." 

The tow-headed young man flicked him a glance. "Must be nice to be able to call her that." 

"You're not one of those Trepies, are you?" he asked Jared suspiciously. The heat was addling the other guy's brains. He was probably thinking he was sleeping with the instructor to pass the exam. Typical. He gave a nonchalant shrug at Jared's glare. "Hey, just asking – no need to get ticked off." 

"Those Trepies are idiots," Jared muttered, shaking his head. "I mean, Instructor Trepe is great and everything, but it's not like _they_'re gonna be any good if they just moon over her." Maybe he was an ex-Trepie. Yeah, that had to be it. 

Irvine nodded his agreement absently, going back to scanning his surroundings. "You see anything, Rina?" 

The girl gave him a slight frown. It didn't make her look any less nervous. "It's Rissa, actually." She passed the binoculars to Jared. "There're two of those Jelleyes out there – they're directly in our path. Well, unless you want to go the long way past those boulders." She paused, grasping her staff. "I've never fought one." 

"No surprise, considering the fact you've never been out of Balamb before," Jared said. "Makes one wonder how you accumulated all those credits – from written exams and assignments?" She opened her mouth and he cut her off before she even said a word. "Never mind. There are three of them actually.... No, make that four. And throw in another one for good measure." 

Irvine raised an eyebrow at both the information and his behaviour. "There's a Jelleye conference goin' on or somethin'? Those monsters usually wander alone, or maybe in pairs, sometimes." 

He was about to add more when the receiver in his ear crackled, and he heard a voice – Nida's? – saying, "Squad C, move out and secure the perimeters, repeat, Squad C, move out." 

_Finally_, he thought, and signalled his squad. "Come on, guys. Time for some action."

Irvine blasted the first Jelleye with Exeter, watching as the oddly-colourful form crumpled, fell, and disintegrated as it hit the earth. Jared was releasing another arrow, looking somewhat disgruntled that the monster didn't die at his first shot. Rissa was still hitting another one with her staff, and Irvine noted that while she knew how to use her weapon, she wasn't exactly an expert fighter. 

"What do you have junctioned?" he asked. 

She looked panicky. "What?" 

"GF!" he said, exasperated. _How come Squall always knew who had which GF junctioned? How come _I_ didn't think of asking earlier?_ "Which one?" 

"Carbunkle," she replied, finally managing to fend off the Jelleye, and moving out of the way just as Jared loosed an arrow at the monster. 

_Carbunkle? Who's the genius who gave her_ that_?_

"I have Leviathan," Jared said, loosing another shot, "but compatibility is very, _very_ low." 

"I hope at least one of you is good at paramagic," Irvine said, wondering if he'll ever live it down of his friends found out that he was having trouble handling a few Jelleyes, for Hyne's sake. For all he knew, Quisty was laughing at him from the command center right then. 

Closing his eyes, he summoned Cerberus, and the world shimmered as he felt himself fade into the Guardian's realm. The three-headed GF appeared, casting Double and Triple on all of them and abruptly disappeared. Jared had managed to dispose his Jelleye, still looking somewhat annoyed. Irvine took another shot at another of the mosters – this one staggered, but didn't disappear, and he yelled at Rissa, "Cast something, will you?" 

The girl gave him a frightened glance. "What?" 

"It's a fly monster – try Aero or something!" He muttered something foul under his breath, suddenly missing Selphie very, very much. He took another shot, only partly noticing that Rissa hadn't cast anything. He turned to look at the girl again, and that seemed to shake her out of her panic. 

He watched as the greenish hue of magic sparked around her, and just before she released the spell, he had the presence of mind to add, "And I think Holy might work, too!" 

Rissa spared him a distracted glance, causing her spell to miss, and the displaced gust of wind from the Aero spell caused Jared to miss as well. Jared yelled something inaudible her way, looking disgusted at Rissa's flustered apologies before giving up on using his crossbow. Jared finally ignored her as he concentrated on his own summon. 

Irvine shook his head. He was squad leader for less than half an hour, and things were already _bad_. 

Irvine cast a Scan, hoping that Rissa had the sense to pay more attention to her magic this time. Another miss might cause Jared to turn on _her_. Wouldn't exactly be a very bad thing, but Quistis will certainly have his head. 

The thoughts abruptly fled as the information from the Scan was fed straight to his mind. He had to wince at what he received. High-level – much higher than he had expected, with surprisingly high resistance to physical attacks. He raised his rifle and fired again, while Rissa had collected enough of her wits around her to attack with three successive Blizzaras. 

Irvine had had managed to fire a few more rounds _and_ cast a half-hearted Holy – magic was just not his stuff – before Leviathan appeared. Talk about low compatibility; that probably took maybe twice or trice the time he needed to summon the same GF – and Leviathan's Tsunami attack washed all the monsters away. 

"Good thinking," Irvine said, nodding at the other man. _Though it took too much time. Should've just stuck to magic._

Jared gave a slight grin, looking somewhat shaky. "We don't have high-level magic like Flare or Holy stocked," he said, second guessing what Irvine was thinking."We're just low-level cadets, remember?" He walked towards where a Jelleye had fallen, and picked up a magic stone it had dropped and toyed with it for a moment. "Man, that GF just doesn't like me." 

"Leviathan doesn't like _anyone_. Except maybe Squall." Irvine turned to glance at the dejected-looking Rissa. "Hey, c'mon, that was a mistake anyone could've made." 

She shook her head sadly. "Instructor Trepe's sure going to ask me why I got distracted in battle." Irvine opened his mouth. "And no, it wasn't your fault." He closed it back abruptly. 

Irvine scratched the back of his neck, looking away. 

_Damn. I hate being the leader. Now what I'm supposed to say? Heck, I was supposed to remind her of that before we attacked, not_ during_ the attack – that was very bright of you, Kinneas – and I guess I was supposed to tell them to junction spells to their Elemental Defence junction to counter the Jelleyes' elemental attacks. Squall would've thought of that._

_Come to think of it, I probably should've tried using another route. Do they take marks off for these sort of things?_

_Sefie's gonna_ kill _me if I don't pass the exam._

_I hate being the leader._

Discordant laughter rose at the back of his mind. _"Not everyone is made to be a leader, Irvine Kinneas."_

He whirled around. "What did you say?" 

Both of his squad members were looking at him strangely. "Neither of us said anything," Jared said slowly. 

_Damn it. I knew the heat was getting to me._

-----------------

**Author's Note**

Quifer? What's a Quifer? 

Just kidding. 

I would dearly like to say that this fic was started because I have a story to tell, and it's not about pairings. But I can't really say that, because sometimes I get sidetracked by those kind of things too, and I've been known to prefer certain 'ships over others. Though I _can_ tell you that if it is a Quifer, (or is it _Quiefer_? I can never spell that.) my muses haven't indicated so yet. 

( It would be nice, though, if we could just do away with the pairings and just read whatever's good, don't'cha think? ) 

And many thanks to everyone who has reviewed! 


	4. Centra Ruins

**III  
  
  
Centra Ruins**  
_____________________________  
  
_Centra Ruins,  
Centra_

  
  
  
  
  
Zell stepped into the oasis where the Centra Ruins stood, relieved at the relative coolness of the area. He had seen Irvine's team enter a few minutes ago, and he had followed at what he had considered as a discreet distance. He knew Quistis was somewhere close, but he didn't bother to check on her location. She wasn't the type likely to get into trouble. 

Squad C was still standing in the courtyard just after the first flight of stairs, all three of the cadets looking fastidiously around for monsters. Zell passed the sign that read _My Blue Heaven_ – he wondered what in Hyne's name _that_ meant ... though he supposed it had something to do with that weird blue glow that appeared on the railings. 

Zell didn't like Centra. It was dry, it was hot, and it was nothing at all like Balamb. But he disliked the Centra Ruins even more, because it was old and creepy and the walls echoed with some forgotten glory that reminded him of Ultimecia's castle. It made everything seem more dangerous than they actually were, and he hoped that was actually the case, because he had an odd, unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was _wrong_. 

He leant on the stone archway, facing the stairs, confident that the squad couldn't see him. He couldn't see much of them either, but their voices carried clearly to where he stood. 

"You've been here, right?" he heard Reese ask. 

There was a moment's pause before Irvine answered, "Yeah, during the Second Sorceress War. How did you know that?" 

"There's a picture of SeeD Tilmitt standing in front of that statue there." Zell almost chuckled at the mention of 'SeeD Tilmitt' but quickly stiffled it, clasping a gloved hand to his mouth. "I saw it in the website just a couple of days ago. Figured you might have been here as well." 

Irvine probably was grinning – Zell could hear it in the sharpshooter's voice. "Well. Yeah. SeeD Tilmitt's website." 

"It doesn't look like a statue of a sorceress and her knight to me," Hathaway said doubtfully. "Wasn't that what Selphie said they were?" 

"Ah. Sefie gets a little ... fanciful ... sometimes. Just don't tell her I said that." 

"So? Are we supposed to secure the whole place or just wait here for our next orders?" 

It sounded disturbingly like Zell's own field exam. Irvine's answer was slow and considering, however, nothing like Seifer's arrogant responses. "Nida said we were supposed to get rid of the monsters within the perimeter. We've done that, so I guess we wait." There was another short pause, perhaps Irvine consulting his communication device for further orders. "We're not within contact range, I guess." 

"So?" That Reese character was certainly impatient. If he was the squad leader, things probably would end up like they did with Zell's exam in Dollet. _I wonder who was the idiot who appointed Seifer as squad leader?_ he mused. The madman almost got them all killed, and that was before they even _knew_ there was an Ultimecia. Hah. Seifer didn't even _need_ any influence to go evil, that was what Zell was sure of, and he had never quite understood how Cid could be so forgiving. 

"We'll wait for orders. If they can't get through, they'll send someone with a message." Irvine sounded calm, but to Zell it seemed that he seemed a tad indecisive. He shrugged it off – Irvine was no Squall, but he was a good guy ... most of the time. Zell felt rather foolish trailing Irvine's group – that was one squad that he was sure would do well. He was supposed to be observing this squad _and_ grade them, and he wasn't even an instructor. Zell wasn't sure who came up with the idea that the instructor-in-charge shouldn't be the one to grade their students – it had to be either Xu or Quistis. 

_Selphie's gonna _kill_ me if Irvine doesn't pass the exam._

"D'you know what kind of monsters there're here?" That was the female cadet again. 

Zell could almost see Irvine's shrug. "Tonberries. Forbiddens – creepy things. We met some Buels, too. Just make sure you have your GF junctioned, and you'll be okay, though you better leave the physical attacks to me and Jared." He was probably flashing her that smile the girls found so charming. 

Rolling his eyes, Zell wondered if he should just march in and give them their next orders. Trust Irvine to flirt in the middle of a mission. Zell was considering about reporting him to Selphie (old habits die hard, he supposed) when a cadet came hurrying his way. She seemed familiar, even though he only caught a passing glimpse of her. She didn't notice him, and rushed up the stairs towards Irvine's squad. 

"Squad C Captain? Irvine Kinneas?" 

"Yeah. Hey, don't go all formal on me; we know each other, right?" 

"I'm a messenger from the intelligence squad." That would be Squad B – the squad Quistis was following around. "You have orders to secure the main chambers of the ruins, where Odin was found. I was informed that you know the way." 

"That's it?" Irvine's voice held mild amusement. 

"Yes." The messenger sounded annoyed. Ha – finally someone who wasn't vulnerable to Irvine's so-called charm. "You better get going." 

"Yes, ma'am," Irvine said, and Zell heard them move away. "Lets go – the steps to the left are broken half-way; don't bother with them. I wonder who has Diablos; I wouldn't mind his Enc-None junction right now." 

"Why?" Reese again. 

"I hate those Forbiddens." Any sane person would – those thing dealt Death as easily as Grats released sleeping gas. Besides, Irvine had been knocked unconcious once by one of those, and he was strangely wary of them. 

"Oh." Zell heard their footfalls echoing as they hurried up the steps. "You think there'll be any more Tonberries around?" 

"I don't know. I don't think so." 

Their voices faded as they disappeared up the staircase. Shaking his head, Zell wondered how long he should give before following them (and who's idea was it anyway, that SeeDs should remain 'invisible' during exams?), before Quistis suddenly entered, and she spotted him immediately. She gave him her usual slight smile before coming to stand beside him. For some reason, she seemed troubled – she kept glancing up the stairs where Irvine and his team had went up. 

"They're doing okay, I guess?" she asked in an undertone, pushing a strand of her golden hair behind an ear. 

Zell nodded. "Heard Squad D was almost wiped out by some monsters." 

Quistis frowned slightly. "Yes, Xu was rather annoyed at that. She had to step in to help. I don't think she'll pass any of them. Aki'll be annoyed at _her_; that's his squad." She glanced up at the empty courtyard, at the messenger who was looking around with interest. "There's been rather ... odd monster activities going on." 

"I'll mention that in my report," Zell said, only half-jokingly, thinking of the Jelleyes Irvine had gone against. The monsters had been behaving almost as if they were ... sentient ... and Zell had found it quite disturbing. 

She gave a grave nod. She was about to say something else when two more cadets came in, hauling wires and electronic equipment with them, practically running up the stairs. She pulled Zell back into the shadows and he peered after them. "Are they always that excitable?" 

"I think it's more nervousness than anything else." She gave him an amused look. "You were much worse than that." 

He turned to give her an indignant look, opening his mouth to say something, when she motioned him to shush. One of the girls was pointing at a monitor they had set up. "Hey, look – there're readings coming from the northeast corner – I think those trapped people are there!" 

"I'll report it to SeeD Nida ... he'll relay the information, right?" 

"Yeah." There was a flurry of activity for a few long minutes before the same voice spoke up. "Guys, there's some unusual activity coming from the main antechambers – it almost looks like a GF." 

"Maybe someone on Squad C's using his GF to take care of some monsters." 

"It's probably Irvine – he's the only one of us who has a high compatibility with any of the GFs to have summoned one that quickly." 

"It's a ... a fire-elemental GF, I think." 

Zell was trying to sit still, bored, and Quistis was giving him a half-exasperated, half-fond look as she told him to be quiet. He had almost tuned off the girls' discussions when he caught the last part. He frowned. "They don't have fire-elementals – I checked. Irvine has Cerberus – I think you classify him as status-changing, not elemental, right? – and the others have Leviathan and ... uh ... Carbunkle." 

"The cadets could easily be wrong, Zell," Quistis murmured. 

"Well, I hafta go check. Things are a bit weird, don't'cha think? There's ... something else here." 

Quistis blinked. "Oh. I thought it was just me ... maybe I was just nervous because it's the first ...." she said, her voice trailing away. 

_... mission you've been assigned to since you were reinstated as an instructor_, Zell thought, finishing the sentence. Funny. He would've never thought that Quistis could be nervous. "Call the mission off once Squad B gets the location those researchers, 'kay?" 

Quistis gave a reluctant nod. "Yes, I think Xu and Nida will agree. I'll join you later." 

Zell bounded up the stairs, causing the girls to abruptly turn to face him, weapons ready. They relaxed marginally when they saw him. 

"Have we done something wrong, sir?" one of them blurted. 

_Sir? Oh, right. Field Commander Dincht. Ma's gonna be so surprised when I tell her._ Zell shook his head. "No, not yet. Don't do anything stupid, okay?" He rushed up the next flight of stairs, almost tripping in his haste. 

Behind him he heard one of the cadets mutter, "I really can't see why you like him, Lyana – he could be such a klutz sometimes." 

He paused on the topmost step at the name. Lyana. That was the pretty, brown-haired girl from the library. _No wonder she seemed familiar. How does she manages to be around all the time?_ He almost turned around to say something to her when something else clicked. 

_Wait a sec. She_ likes _me?_

He shoved the thought away before he could fully absorb it, and he sprinted away, deciding that chasing after Irvine's squad and confronting some unknown evil was probably a safer thing to do. 


	5. Premonitions

**IV  
  
Premonitions**  
_____________________________  
  
_Centra Ruins,  
Centra_

  
  
  
  
  
The porticos on the upper floor loomed in the half-light of the Ruins, and Irvine suppressed a shudder. Everything looked gloomier than he remembered, though that was probably because they didn't have Selphie's perpetual cheerfulness with them. 

It _would_'ve been nice if she had came along. She certainly would've been more useful than Zell in more ways than one. 

He glanced back down the stairs and only saw Lyana waiting impatiently near the statues. Shrugging off the odd feeling that they were being trailed, he looked around as Rissa rubbed her arms, trying to dispel the goosebumps that were prickling her skin. Jared was watchful and silent. 

"Which way should we go?" Rissa asked, her staff wavering uncertainly in her hands. Irvine wondered for the umpteenth time how she had managed to qualify for the exam -- she had to have had a very high written exam score to compensate her prerequisite, assuming she had been this nervous in that one, too. 

"Straight ahead." Irvine took a step towards the large doorway, and the other two came after him, neither seemed to be very willing. 

"This place is giving me the creeps," Jared muttered. "Kinneas, are you sure your team got rid of all those . . . GFs and whatevers?" 

Irvine's glance flicked upwards. Why did the Centrans built the place with entryways almost three times his height? Everything _loomed_, and perhaps it was just his imagination, but everything seemed to be getting larger by the moment. Just how tall were those Centrans anyway? Freakin' _giants_? 

"We found Odin and the Tonberry King," he answered. Odin was tall -- with that war steed and helm, of course. Maybe all Centrans were his size. Assuming, of course, that the GF _was_ Centran. Irvine shook his head slightly, trying to focus. What was the matter with him? It was just an ordinary mission for Hyne's sake; there was no need to get so rattled. But Jared was right -- the place gave him the willies. "I don't know if there're anything else other than monsters." 

He stepped into the next room, the other two close behind. The torches flared as they entered, eliciting a startled gasp from Rissa. "Dear _Hyne_," she murmured, her hazel eyes wide as she took in her surroundings. "What exactly _is_ this place?" 

The place felt like a mausoleum to him, with the carved panels and elegant pillars. The statues, eerily lifelike, seemed to be staring at them. Their shadows danced on the walls as the fire from the torches flickered, and Irvine forced down an impulse to just turn around and flee. 

The room looked exactly as it did the first time Irvine had seen it. Nothing was out of place, and it was jarring how he could remember those details and not other things. It didn't look like a speck of dust had moved, and he wondered suddenly if Cid and Squall had made the right decision accepting the mission. 

_Hyne, you're being an idiot, Kinneas. Of course Squall knows what he's doing. And there's nothing here. You've been here before. Don't frighten the kids._

"Is this the main chamber?" Jared asked, moving closer to a wall, studying the glyphs engraved on it. 

Irvine shook his head. "It's higher up . . . this is just one of the . . . anterooms, I guess." 

"Up?" Rissa echoed. "How do we go up?" 

_We might as well get this over with._ "Here, follow me." He stepped on a block at the top of the stairs leading to a ledge, and gallantly held out a hand to Rissa. She accepted it, and Jared jumped on. As soon as he did, the block floated upwards gently, leaving them looking at each other with slight alarm mingled with amazement. 

"I never liked this place," Irvine said to no one in particular. 

"I'll be thankful if I'll never have to set foot here again," Jared said, staring at a statue of what could've been of an eagle as they floated upwards. "How the hell the Centrans managed to this without the technology?" 

Irvine barked a short laugh. "This _is_ their technology -- Quistis said they probably rigged it so that some Float spells are released every time there's an increased pressure on the block." All of them stepped off it as soon as it stopped. "I can't imagine how many they stocked . . . it's been a very long time since that Lunar Cry that destroyed them, don't you think?" 

"It's been eighty-odd years," Rissa said softly, sounding awed. "Combining magic and technology like that -- what ingenuity." She shuddered slightly. "We don't have the right to be here. Not us." 

Irvine almost flinched -- that was exactly what he was thinking. It didn't help when he felt something at the back of his mind totally agree with them. 

He didn't have time to be alarmed before Rissa jumped off the block before it had properly stopped. She stopped suddenly to look at two stones resting on an altar of sorts that stood at the base of another flight of stairs. He had the time to think, irritated, _Gods, couldn't they just put more floating blocks?_, before she asked, "Why is that . . . thing . . . there glowing blue?" 

"Beats the hell out of me," Irvine said, moving away from it as fast as it was stately possible. "Just don't touch it -- I don't trust anything around here." He tapped his comm device. "Why aren't they giving further instructions?" he grumbled. "Nida said this thing wasn't succeptible to inteference." 

Rissa was staring at the glowing blue stones, entranced. Tilting her head, she reached out to touch the wall behind them. "Doesn't that carving look familiar?" 

"What?" Jared said, warily eyeing her. "Oh that. Those are just stylized wings, Rissa . . . they're quite common motifs." His blue eyes caught hers, and a teasing smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Come _on_. You're the class genius. Don't say you didn't know that . . . ." 

"Hey, don't pick on her, Jared," Irvine admonished, feeling rather foolishly like he _was_ in charge. Jared quirked an eyebrow at that. Irvine avoided his eyes, and his attention flickered at the so-called wing motif, and his mind flitted to Rinoa. Rinoa. Sorceress. Wings. Angel. Squall. A flash of pleasure-pain ran through his mind, and he almost stumbled. Rissa took a step towards him touched him gently on the arm. 

"Hey, you okay?" 

"Yeah." _Hyne, I hope so. I am _completely_ losing it._ "C'mon, let's go -- just up those stairs, if I'm not mistaken." 

They climbed the spiralling staircase, moving ridiculously close to one another. If something ambushed them, he was quite sure none of them would be able to wield their weapons -- close-ranged or otherwise -- very effectively. The Ruins felt . . . different . . . this time. There was a _presence_ that wasn't there the first time he had been here, almost a year ago. 

Selphie would probably laugh and say his imagination was running wild again. He almost smiled. Yeah, that's what she'd say. Just his imagination. 

The stairs ended right in front of the room where Odin was found -- the throne room. "We found Odin h--" he started to say, when Jared raised his crossbow and gave a stifled a shout of surprise, causing Irvine to train his rifle on the same target. He lowered it almost immediately, belatedly realising that it was only a statue. A gargoyle, with two ruby-red eyes, seemed to be leering down at them. 

"It's a statue," he said, trying to slow down his own thumping heart. "Squall figured out if we placed the two stones there, we should be able to enter the chamber. He was right." Rissa broke into giggles that bordered on hysteria. He placed a hand on her shoulder and ushered her into the throne room, hoping that nothing inside would pounce on them and skin them alive. 

Nothing happened. The torches flickered and the shadows moved, but nothing else happened. 

He gave a shaky laugh and the others stared at him. "See? Nothing to be afraid of. There ain't even any monsters here." 

A large throne sat on the dais in the middle of the room, and muted sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows behind it. 

"It seems safe enough," Jared agreed. Rissa was about to nod when the sound of muffled footsteps were heard outside, and she jumped half a foot into the air instead. Turning around, Irvine saw Zell standing by the door, tattooed face flushed, looking like he had ran all the way from Balamb. 

"Hey, Zell. Is something wrong?" 


	6. Quistis

  
  


**V  
  
Quistis**  
_____________________________  
  
_Centra Ruins,  
Centra_

  
  
  
  
  
As far as she could tell, nothing was wrong -- everything was going more-or-less as was planned; all squads were in position, and the SeeDs were on alert to act at once if anything got out of hand. And it was a field exam, so it was natural that certain things were going slightly awry, but it was nothing that strayed from the meticulously made contingency plan. 

The mission, according to all the rule books and procedures and trainings -- down to the very last section, paragraph and line -- was going perfectly well. 

There was nothing that could justify the niggling sense of unease Quistis had at the back of her mind even before the start of the mission. 

She had this nagging feeling that something was off-balance, out of place. She couldn't pinpoint it, and it was slowly getting on her nerves. And from everything that had happened last year, she knew better than to just ignore it, like she would have done before. She _did_ wish, though, that she had more substantial evidence as she was finding herself running low on patience as she was trying to reason out her half-fledged worries to her colleague. 

"Yes, I know," she tried again, fuming at the silent scepticism practically oozing from her communicator, "but something is _wrong_, Nida, and I think Zell is right -- we should call the mission off." 

There was a long pause on the other end. She could almost imagine Nida stabbing the pieces of paper in front of him with the pencil he was holding. His respect for her (and the knowledge that Zell outranked him in this particular mission) eventually won out, and he sighed. "Okay, okay, I get it." A short pause and some static. "Or rather, I don't get it. But I'll broadcast the order to withdraw on all channels. 1300 at the Command Centre. You'll have to tell the teams in the Ruins yourself -- I'm not getting through to them. There seems to be some sort of interference." 

"Yes, I copy that. And Nida?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Thanks." 

She cut off the connection before he could answer, and hurried up the stairs. Almost immediately she bumped into a cadet rushing down, and the younger girl just managed to cling to the railings to keep herself from tripping. Quistis blinked at her, and was about to launch into an automatic reprimand about going around without observing your surroundings when the girl cut her off. 

"Oh, Instructor Trepe! I'm sorry, but we're not getting through to Nida on the communicator and I thought it would be better if I tried here and there's this really weird interference on all our channels and in all the equipment and we're not sure what to do--" 

"Slow down," Quistis said sharply. "There's no need to panic." 

That seemed to ground her. Quistis wondered absently if she had been that jumpy during her own exam -- she honestly couldn't remember. It was odd, really, the memories the GF chose to wipe away. "Okay, Cadet. You've been given orders to withdraw. 1300 at the Command Centre. You're to relay the information to your squad leader and to act immediately upon that order." 

She saluted, a sharp and precise movement, in control once again. "Yes, ma'am! 1300 hours at the Command Centre!" 

Quistis looked after her for a moment. She flicked the 'transmit' switch of the comm device and heard nothing but white noise. Another oddity. There shouldn't be problems with radio transmissions here. There should be slight interference due to the fact that they were within a building, but the radio signals should powerful enough still to be picked up. She mentally added another checkmark to it as an extra point to append to her report. 

She reached Squad B as they were packing up their equipment. One of them, the cadet in front of the monitor, hesitated. Quistis instantly recognised her as Lyana Arman, the shy, polite librarian who had a crush on Zell, of all people. She turned to look at Quistis. "Instructor -- there seems to be some odd activity in the upper chambers of the ruins. Should we check it out first, or at least report back about it?" 

Quistis shook her head. "No, remember what you were told about orders to withdraw?" The three of them looked at each other. "So you better finish packing your gear and go." 

"But -- but someone might be in danger--" 

Quistis just looked at her, and she went red. "Yes, ma'am," she murmured, and began unplugging the cables. There was a strained silence for a while before the squad leader suddenly started. 

"Hey, the line's cleared up." 

Quistis's own line crackled to life, and she heard Nida's voice, loud and clear. "--draw in twenty-three minutes. I repeat, withdraw from your post and assemble at the Command Centre in twenty-three minutes, at 1300 hours. Do you copy, Squad C Leader? Over." 

Irvine's voice came over the line. "Squad C Leader here, I copy. Withdraw at 1300 hours. Over and out." 

"Squad B Leader, do you copy?" Pause. "Do these people even _listen_ to me?" she heard Nida grumble. "Squad B Leader!" 

The girl gave a muffled 'eep' and immediately responded, and Quistis shook her head wryly as she headed up the stairs. 

*

She found Zell arguing with Nida on his comm device, along with Irvine and his team in Odin's throne room. Irvine was looking slightly amused, but he was obviously wary of his surroundings. His eyes kept straying towards the ceiling, as if he expected something to pounce on him the moment he let his guard down. She didn't blame him. 

"Yeah, I know, Xu. Of course we've looked there! There's just one more room left, and if they're not there, I don't know where they are." There was a pause as Zell listened to something Xu was saying, nodding vehemently all the while. "I don't like it either, but we still have to save 'em, remember. Yeah." Zell looked annoyed. "Yeah, yeah! Geez, I am SeeD, you know." 

She could swear she could hear Xu laughing softly on the other end. 

Zell looked slightly disgruntled as he disconnected. "Xu thinks the researchers are somewhere on the top-most tier of the pyramid. She told us to be careful of some fire-elemental up there." He pulled at his gloves. "C'mon, Quisty." 

"Can we help?" Reese asked eagerly. 

"The order to withdraw--" 

"Yeah, yeah, takes priority," Irvine drawled, laughter in his voice. "I swear, you guys drilled it so much into my head I'll continue to hear that 'til the next century." He looked at his squad. "Let's go, team." 

Zell hesitated for a moment, giving Quistis a glance. "Irvine, you're with us," he said, and Quistis saw no reason to disapprove of the order. Irvine gave a slight nod at that and he would have tipped his hat at them had he had it on. "Reese, you're the squad leader now, so don't do anything stupid." 

"Hey, but--" Reese protested, looking startled, glancing at Irvine for help. Hathaway shook her head, but Quistis wasn't sure if she was telling Reese to stop protesting or whether she was agreeing with Reese's protest. 

The cowboy shrugged, and pulled out his earpiece. "Just go, man. You don't want any marks deducted." He was grinning faintly, almost as if it was a joke. Reese started to say something else, but Irvine just handed the communication device to him and he took it with a slight sigh. "Come on, Rissa," he said. "We have twenty minutes to make it to the command centre." 

Both of them saluted, and Quistis watched as the two left. Irvine muttered something under his breath about squad leaders and Zell looked at him, puzzled. "I think you did good enough." 

"I think I know why Squall always has that frown on his face, now." 

Zell snorted. "Squall _always_ had a frown on his face, even when he was just sitting in class staring at nothing." 

"Enough of that, you two," Quistis chastised and both of them had the grace to look contrite. She found herself being mildly irritated at Zell -- he was in command, but he still automatically deferred to her. Quistis wasn't sure if Zell will ever be able to forget that she had been his instructor one. Zell was right about one thing, though -- Squall had always been serious, even back in the days when he didn't have the burden of command on his shoulders. Rinoa had managed to get him to relax a little bit. Not much, but in some ways, it was enough. Quistis cast off the thought of Squall from her mind, and headed towards the door. 

"You gave the command to withdraw?" Irvine asked as he followed her out. 

Zell was defensive. "Yeah. What, you think it was a bad call?" 

Irvine shrugged, an expressive gesture on his part. "Hey, you're the field commander here, not me. I'm just a lowly cadet, remember?" He gave a Zell a wry grin, and the hand-to-hand combat specialist looked somewhat puzzled as to whether or not he should find the remark insulting. Quistis wondered idly if Irvine was purposely irritating the other SeeD or was merely being honest. Irvine was such a puzzle, sometimes. She suspected he was a lot more smarter than he let on, and if the mission was a success, there was no reason he wouldn't make SeeD this time around. 

_Selphie's going to kill both him_ and _Zell if he doesn't pass the exam._

Quistis felt Shiva's amusement at her thoughts, very cold and very sudden. Before she could form a question in her mind to address her, her presence vanished, leaving Quistis puzzled at the sudden withdrawal. 

Irvine was shifting Exeter from one hand to another. He looked preoccupied. Zell was leaning against the doorway, for all the world looking like he was carrying a conversation with himself. He started and shook himself when he realised Quistis was studying him and abruptly headed up the stairway. 

"I think it's that way," Irvine said, gesturing downwards. "We have to climb the ladder at the landing to get to top-most chamber, remember?" 

Zell frowned a bit at that. "Tch. You're right, I s'pose," he muttered. "You're the one with the better memory, anyway." Irvine actually looked discomfited at the comment and Quistis just shook her head. 

Irvine cleared his throat. "Don't you guys feel something . . . different . . . about this place?" 

Quistis turned to look at him. Zell had stopped moving and he was regarding Irvine carefully, a curious expression on his face. "You feel it too?" 

"Yeah. It was creepy before, but now I swear it's . . . well . . . _haunted_." Irvine gave a self-patronizing smile. "Now tell me it's just my imagination so that we can just go rescue those people and get the hell outta here." 

Zell continued down the stairs with a wave of his hand. "I don't care if it's just your imagination. I still wanna get the hell outta here." 

Irvine gave a short bark of a laugh as they came to a stop in front of a ladder. "This leads to the topmost tier, right?" He gave it a shake. "Here goes." 

"Be careful," Quistis called out, and he shook his head at that. She thought she heard him mutter, "women", under his breath, but chose to ignore him. She watched as Zell scrambled up after him, agile as a monkey. As soon as she was sure that they were both safely off the ladder, she climbed up herself, and was slightly discomfited when the ladder creaked under her weight. 

Irvine gave an impressed whistle as he stood on the out-jutted platform. Zell, right behind him, poked him in the ribs and Irvine stumbled into the small room. Quistis turned her attention from them to the machinery in the room, all of them rotating smoothly, without a hitch. Garden, even with expert maintenance done by the people in Esthar (and some fist-banging by Zell), didn't have engines that ran as quietly as these. Zell was staring at everything with his mouth hanging open. 

"Guys," Irvine said quietly, "I think we've found them." 

She turned sharply to face him, and saw that he was kneeling behind a slab of rock near an opening by the east wall of the room. The wall looked as if it was blasted open, perhaps by the members of the research team themselves. Irvine was gently shaking one of the researchers. Zell immediately checked for a pulse on the second man -- half-hidden under some debris -- before nodding in relief. "They're just unconscious," Irvine said, looking up to her. "I wonder what happened." 

"Wonder about that later," Zell said. "Help me out here, will ya?" 

Irvine shrugged and Quistis searched the small chamber as Zell muttered words for a Cure spell. If spells didn't work, one of them had to get down and get some help -- stretchers, medical help, the like -- perhaps Irvine could do that. She studied the wall, and the faint runes etched on them. Did they mean anything or were they just decorative text? If only there weren't any interference here -- she could have just radioed in to Nida for help. Why _was_ there interference, anyway? Was it because the structure, or was it something else entirely? 

Her eyes followed the runes as they trailed to the floor. One of the researchers was awake. Zell was still trying to revive the other one. "There was something here!" His voice was hysterical, and Irvine's reassurances didn't seem to placate him. "I swear, it was here!" 

"What was here, sir?" 

"I . . . I don't know -- it . . . it was a beast of some sort . . . ." he trailed off as Quistis squatted to look at something at the base of the wall, a half-finished looking rune that almost made sense to her. She traced it with a finger, and watching as the dust flaked off the dry wall and drifted to the floor. 

"Hey, hey. Calm down. What's your name?" 

"Name? It's -- my name's Tomassen. I didn't -- I never . . . I never thought that it would turn out like this." He voice had the desperate quality of someone who had just awoken from a nightmare. 

"Where's the rest of your group? Five of you were reported missing . . . ." 

The man's voice quavered. "_It_ got them, I swear -- we tried to stop it, but--" He grew hysterical again. "We have to get out of here!" 

Quistis stared at the dust on the floor and gently brushed away the debris that had been collecting on the cobblestone right beneath the rune. Her fingers caught a protruding edge of the overlay and she yanked it away, revealing a depression in the floor. 

"Sir, if you can calm down and tell us what happened, maybe we can find your friends--" 

"It got to them, I'm telling you! You won't find them here!" 

She reached into the hollow, and her hand brushed against a thin chain. Quistis's fingers curled around it and she pulled it out. The chain seemed to be made of silver, and there was an amulet -- it was white, and it seemed to glow in the shadows of the ruin; ivory perhaps -- hung on the chain. She blinked, and let the crescent-shaped amulet slide along the chain to rest on her palm. 

The world seemed to disappear for a while. There was complete darkness, and nothing else. There was no light at all, and everything was the same colourless void. This existence only compromised of this unending void and her own consciousness. Nothing else. Nothing else at all. 

"Quistis?" 

She started at the sound of her name. Irvine was staring at her, one hand outstretched, almost as if he wanted to shake her awake. Zell was surprisingly still, all his nervous energy had dissipated somewhere. 

"Uh, whatever it was, I think it's gone." Zell slowly stood up, dusting his knees. Tomassen laughed, a wild light in his eyes, and Zell eyed him warily. "Let's get out of here, okay?" 

Quistis nodded. After all, there was no more reason to stay there. Her grip on the amulet tightened before she slipped it into a pocket and went to help Zell with the still-comatose man. 

They headed out of the room without a word, none of them aware of the invisible eyes watching their departure.

  
  
  
  
  
  


---------------- 

**Author's Note**

Is it just me, or is FF.Net not allowing us to have white spaces in our fics? Whatever's causing it, it's definitely messing up the formatting. I hate it when the formatting gets messed up. 

Thank you, for the . . . uh . . . enthusiastic responses. I am glad to know that this is actually being read. 

That was rather anti-climatic, ne? Sorry about that. 

I can't promise scheduled updates, simply because I don't stick to a schedule and I often get sidetracked by other stuff. But this fic isn't going to be abandoned, not yet. A few chapters are already in the works, so you can be assured that a new chapter will be up soon. ^_^ 


	7. Guardian

  
  


**VI  
  
Guardian**  
_____________________________  
  
_( ?? )_

  
  
  
  
  
He flicked his flame-coloured eyes upon the questioner, and the observer shivered slightly from her hidden position, even when she knew she was safe within the shadows. Those eyes bored into the soul, be it immortal or otherwise. There was something in those flames that made one reconsider the meaning of one's life, and ponder upon questions never thought before. 

Certain questions, such as, _Why in the name all that is sacred am I still here?_ certainly did cross the mind. 

He flicked a claw carelessly in the direction of the speaker. His voice was a low rumble from deep within his throat. "Do you see the future, old friend, to have such knowledge of events?" 

"I do not. But how could things _not_ change? Have we not kept this hidden for centuries?" She knew the speaker on sight -- the one known as the errant knight -- and he was standing proudly in front of the elaborate dais, refusing the offer of a seat. His armour gleamed in the perpetual half-light, and his horned helmet was held to his side. He did not look like a supplicant before a king -- he was the king himself. She rarely ever saw him here, and when she did, she never felt the need to get in his way. He was rather daunting, and his overly formal speech caused the rift already existing between him and the younger guardians to widen into an unbridgeable chasm. 

But his presence here simply confirmed the rumours, didn't it? Oh, how she hated to admit to that insufferable midget of a guardian that he was right. He'd hold it over her for all of eternity. 

But then again, if they put no stop to this nonsense, there would be no such thing such as eternity. She didn't exactly found the thought comforting. 

"You would not stop this, then?" the knight pressed, and she started at the near-echo of her thoughts. For a fleeting moment she wondered if she had his support on her side, and her heart, had it existed, soared. 

The answering gaze was lazy, slightly reproving. "You know the Code. There is no reason for us to take interest of their affairs, except in the usual way." 

"And the danger?" 

"Nothing that they cannot deal with themselves." A deliberate smile played over his features, and she thought it seemed more like a snarl. She had always found him benevolent before, but her confidence in him was slowly eroding. "You said it yourself -- they're the best warriors you have came across over the centuries. If they cannot deal with it, no one can." 

"The younger ones will not see it that way." It was a casual remark, yet it felt as if it was directed to her, and she instinctively shrunk back, missing the slight glance the knight had thrown her way. 

The Ancient One tapped his claws on the armrest of his throne, considering. "No, they won't. They'll want to help." 

"And what shall _you_ do then?" That was the closest to disrespect that she had ever heard in the low, rich voice. 

A shrug of the powerful shoulders. "Let them try. They will not be able to make a difference." 

The knight contemplated this silently, and the observer shuddered in the thick, almost tangible silence. "And what about the sorceress?" he eventually asked, his voice completely neutral. 

Another pause, longer this time. 

"She's of no consequence; not this time." 

The implied threat hung in the darkness. This was not her place, she thought belatedly, and she crept away as silently and as quickly as possible. She vanished in a flash of ethereal wings and a lilting note of her harp as soon as she was certain she was out of sight. 

' 

* 

' 

Odin's eyes flicked to the entrance as Siren's form disappeared to the mortal world. He could not see her, no, but he could sense her form diminishing from this dimension and reappearing in the next. She took their powers too lightly -- all the young ones did. That was their first mistake, and it was a very costly one. 

That was his mistake too, a very long time ago. 

"My lord, I do not think that that was particularly wise." 

Perhaps he was making the same mistake again now. 

"The younger ones will still act, no matter what we do to stop them." The Dragon Lord's eyes held mild amusement. "They are too fond of these mortals, and some of them still remember too well how it is to be . . . human." His sharp gaze rested on the former knight. Odin did not flinch. There was no reason to. Maybe those too-sharp eyes liked what they saw, though it was a long pause before he continued. "It would be better if we helped them along, don't you think?" 

Odin bowed his acquiescence, but he still was not convinced. The young were reckless, often too hasty in their decisions, but still . . . they would be breaking an unspoken agreement, held true for aeons. "I still think that it would be prudent that we not interfere with the mortal world, not unless we are summoned." _Nor_, he thought to himself, _should we meddle in the affairs of_ our _kind, however misguided they may be._

His lord read his mind, as always. 

"We are not, as you say, _interfering_, old friend." Those claws were still tapping absently on the throne's armrest. Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap. He knew the pattern well, he has heard it many times before. "Think it as . . . guidance." 

"But will they let themselves be guided?" Odin murmured. 

"Guidance need not be evident, my friend. You know that better than most." 

"And if they still resist?" 

Bahamut's eyes were flat and they betrayed no emotion. "They will not even have the chance to."

  
  
  
  
  
  


---------------- 

**Author's Note**

You may now stop gaping and start asking me what the heck am I doing. 

Not that that I have definitive answers, mind. ^_^ 

Let's see . . . updates. *dodges whip and trips over the laptop* The most you can hope is once a week, and even that is probably overly optimistic. I've been known to update fics after a half-year hiatus. I really hope that'll never happen again. I'm very erratic when it comes to updates. 

And nope, this fic's never been posted at ff.net before. I'm pretty sure of that. Maybe that was another writer, or another fic. I had another multi-chaptered FFVIII fic up once upon a time ago, but I took it down. Too many problems with that one. 


	8. Signs of Change

  
  


**VII  
  
Signs of Change**  
_____________________________  
  
_B-Garden Ballroom,  
Balamb_

  
  
  
  
  
He was staring at the skylight, watching the stars dance their eternal dance. 

Squall Leonhart wasn't in a mood for a dance, though. He wasn't in the mood for any sort of celebration. 

Truth to be told, he was sick of celebrations. He had came back from Time Compression to a party. He had had to go to Esthar to attend another party. He had to attend various functions, at the invitation of various leaders, and at all of those functions he had to _not_ frown at everyone and had to try to not to grimace when someone congratulated him for Saving the World. 

Saving the world? That sounded so . . . so _epic_, so staggeringly colossal. It also sounded ridiculous. No, he was just doing what he had to, he was trying to protect his friends. Trying to protect Rinoa. Trying to protect . . . this world they lived in. Anyone else would have done the same, right? 

And the music started to play again, and Squall almost rolled his eyes. And what did he get from all this? Attending parties and ceremonies in his perfectly-pressed uniform -- now trimmed with even more gold, though thankfully no one had forced him to pin on his various medals; they weighed too much, anyway. And trying not to trip over his feet every time he had to dance with someone-or-other's daughter or sister, all the while silently pleading to an amused Rinoa -- who was always politely chatting with the dignitaries -- to come and rescue him. 

Rinoa, of course, did nothing of the sort. 

At the thought of his sorceress, he looked away from the skylight, wondering where she was. Rinoa _adored_ parties . . . she was usually the one to drag him -- often literally -- to attend them. 

Well, at least this ceremony was not for him, per se. It was an inauguration ceremony for the new graduates, and he was relieved to see Irvine's name leading those of the candidates who had passed the field exam. How Irvine had managed to fail the written exam on his first try was beyond Squall, though he wasn't really surprised. He had yet to talk to Zell or Xu about the mission, and there was the headmaster to report to as well, and he had some paperwork to finish up, and SeeDs to delegate. He vaguely wondered if Selphie had already got back from her assignment (she wouldn't be happy with him for letting someone else organise the graduation ball, but this was a formal event and they didn't really need bright balloons and steamers, did they?), and he probably needed to think who he could send in as her replacement. 

Still preoccupied, he turned to look at the entrance to see Rinoa stepping into the ballroom, talking animatedly to Edea. 

Sometimes he wondered how different their lives would have been if Rinoa hadn't taken that chance and dragged him onto the dance floor. 

Rinoa gave him a delighted wave and headed towards him, her stiletto heels clicking on the polished marble floor. He gave her a small nod, watching as she gracefully wove through the crowd, her burgundy dress swishing as she walked. 

"Dance with me?" she said, almost cheekily, and this time, he gave a little frown of protest. Rinoa laughed. "Ah, at least you have an expression for an answer this time." 

"I don't want to dance," he told her, folding his arms. 

"Why?" 

". . ." 

"Squall, if you don't say anything, no one's going to be able to guess what you're thinking." 

He held back a sigh and uncrossed his arms. "I don't feel like dancing." 

Rinoa didn't seem to take offence to that. "Okay. I'll go dance with Irvine, then." 

_What? Can he even dance?_

"Or Nida! Nida's a good dancer!" 

_Nida? Haven't noticed him around. Is he here?_

"D'you think Zell can dance? It won't be fair not to ask him." 

_Am I supposed to be jealous?_ he wondered. _I don't think I am._

"And maybe with Headmaster Cid. Maybe he can show us some moves!" 

That did it. He was not going to watch the headmaster dance, however nice it was to see Rinoa enjoying herself. He took her hand and headed towards the dance floor, ignoring the glances his fellow SeeDs were throwing his way. Commander Squall Leonhart, dancing? Let them think the world was ending then; he didn't particularly care. Instead, he gave Rinoa a slight smile, and she looked up at him, those dark-brown eyes alight with happiness . . . and maybe . . . love? 

He almost stumbled, but he caught his balance and managed to stay on his feet. Rinoa ruefully shook her head, and he gave an apologetic shrug. He was never awkward when dancing with her -- well, at any rate, he was _less_ awkward when dancing with her than with anyone else. Except for that very first time, that is. And that was due to surprise at the unexpected invitation than actual . . . inability to dance. He'd never had a beautiful girl ask him to dance before. 

Scratch that. He had never had _anyone_ ask him to dance before. 

He felt an odd sense of being content -- odd, because he had to adjust to actually feeling things than just methodologically going through the motions, and harder still to convince himself he was actually _feeling_ all this -- as Rinoa rested her head on his chest. He found himself feeling surprisingly glad that she had came over and asked him to dance that first time. 

The music was starting to slow down, and Squall dimly recognised it as another version of Julia Heartilly's _Eyes On Me_. Rinoa was still leaning against him, her eyes closed. He wondered what she was thinking, what she thought every time she heard the song. What she felt. He wondered if she remembered her mother -- had the GFs taken away her memories too? He didn't remember his, though Selphie swore that she could almost remember hers. Why did the GFs chose those memories to absorb? Why not something else? 

Why was he even thinking about this? 

"Squall?" 

He was startled out of his brooding at Rinoa's voice. "Yes?" 

"Are you okay?" 

He shrugged. "I was just . . . thinking." 

A curve played on those cherry lips. "About what?" 

"You." Well, that was true. At least, it was half-true. 

She laughed and managed to sock his arm lightly, even as they were dancing. "You liar." 

"I don't lie," he protested. 

"Maybe not," she conceded, "but you don't tell the whole truth either. Right?" 

He didn't answer, but he held her close. Rinoa didn't seem to mind, but Squall was pretty sure she would try to pry it out of him later. She could be as bad as Quistis, Rinoa could be, when she was trying to make him open up. Her silky hair smelt of jasmine and some wild flowers he couldn't find names for, and he heard her say softly, "I was thinking about us." 

She tilted her face to look at him. They were at the middle of the dance floor, a calm spot in the whirlwind of the other dancers. She looked upwards at the skylight, at the night sky; a landscape of sparkling diamonds strewn upon layers of velvet. "I was thinking about shooting stars." 

They had stopped dancing, oblivious to everyone around them. Squall was looking up at the sky himself. "They say . . . they say that a shooting star . . . it's a sign of change." 

She leaned into him, still smiling. "Change is good. Well," she amended, "it _could_ be good." 

Squall shook his head and looked at Rinoa's tranquil face. "I'm . . . afraid . . . of change. Things seem fine, now." 

"You know," she whispered, "for such a stolid figure, you can be such a silly goose at times." 

Squall didn't bother to answer her. He leant in to kiss her, his mind totally overlooking the fact that almost the whole Garden was around them. He was forgetting where they were. He felt that they were the only ones on the dance floor, in the ballroom, in the whole world. But Rinoa's eyes strayed to the skylight again, and his own eyes involuntarily flickered the same way. 

A shooting star was streaking by; a dash of light in the sky and then gone in a blink of an eye.


End file.
